Eco boost

D

Dubuque chad

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C Dory Year
2007
C Dory Model
25 Cruiser
Vessel Name
Laura J
Hey guys. At the head of the pandemic I went ahead with my plans for nautical distancing, hats off to wefings in apalachacola, and bought an '07 CD 25. It Took me seven years of searching this sight and others, and ten seconds once I saw her.
Now I'm looking for a truck to tow her. I have a budget of under 30,000, thought I found the answer, wife friendly, daily driver, occasional hauler, in an f150 with an eco boost 3.7 liter engine, but my mechanic friend said no no no... But my heart and the internet keeps telling me yes yes yes.
I don't want to spend another seven years looking for the second half of this rig. What's your experience?
 
For a CD25 I’d definitely go 3/4ton if you plan on any distance towing. I use a 1/2 ton Ram diesel fir my 23 Venture and it’s good, but a 25 is considerably heavier.
 
I’m towing my 25 with a new F150 and doing fine. I do have the V8 tho, but with the higher rear end gears that get better mileage when I’m not towing. I’m not really sold on the dual turbo charged engines but I know of others that have towed the 25 with it. I made two trips towing the 25 over the Rockies with my F150 this past summer. Colby
 
Not a slam dunk question. What is the towing capacity of the truck you’re looking at? The gross vehicle weight? CGVW ? How far and where do you plan to tow your CD-25? How much stuff do you plan to haul? The list goes on and on.
I have towed my 25 behind a F-150 Eco Boost for 5 years with no problems. 9600 lbs towing capacity. It all worked fine when the boat was light in the beginning but the boat and load got heaver as time went by. A reassessment last summer told me I was starting to go over weight. We wanted to go to Lake Powell and there was no way that I was going to tow that far with the road grades involved.

Went back to Florida from Wisconsin and traded in my f-150 for a F-250 with a 7.3 gas engine. Big difference and a real confidence builder for planning our next summer’s trip to Lake Superior, Yellowstone and Powell.

Not all F-150s are the same. If you are going forward check out the Ford Towing guide on line and be sure the truck your looking at will do the job. There are only a few that the numbers would have worked out for my load. Just easier for me to buy the 3/4 ton and not sweat it.

If you have any questions you can always PM me. The F-150 is a great truck.

Congratulations on your 25. I’m quite sure I know the boat. You’ll enjoy it!

Tom
 
Tom, do you have the new 10 speed transmission with the 7.3? If so, how do you like it?
 
Less than 2000 miles on it but like it so far. Mine is pretty basic being the STX model....crew cab, short box, 4.30 gearing, GCVW of 26,000 lbs and 4 wheel drive. It has the 10 speed. Shifting is smooth. Pulls the 25 easy but with the 15,000 lbs towing capacity it should. Payload is 3,100 lbs.

Burns more gas than the F-150 empty but I expected that.

Tom
 
2018 expedition with the ten speed here. 52k miles. No problems aside from the pack rat eating the 4x4 wiring problem. Grrrrr. Have towed close to 6k with it and it feels heavy. 22ft cruiser pulls easy over north cascade hwy and local hills. I suspect it will pull 9k all day long, but I doubt it would stop that much weight trucking down a mountainside with a brake or tire failure. These engines have plenty of power, it’s the stopping and gross vehicle weight and tongue weights that will limit you with heavier loads. Cant speak to pulling a 25 with it, but as far as reliability and daily running I have had no problems so far. Have not tried it with a weight distributing hitch yet. I did not spring for rear lockers, but have the H4 4x4 ford offers and it has been adequate for deep snow with blizzaks, wet boat ramps and non-towing fire roads (pretty bad conditiins) with bfko2’s. Today I am getting 18mpg around the valley in 4 wheel. Running to wenatchee or other hwy its low 20’s. Towing i dont know, i just stuff my wallet in the tank and dont worry about that.

Love the vehicle and it will tow a 25 but personally I would go heavier because I’m a pretty conservative (read paranoid) towing driver. Drove drill rigs up and down I-5 and the inland northwest and pulled 1-ton loads and saw enough craziness to overpower whenever possible. Good luck finding the right rig for you!

Nigel
 
SnowTexan":i2w3j9fy said:
No problems aside from the pack rat eating the 4x4 wiring problem. Grrrrr.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain, my Volvo is in the shop now with the head off - bent valves, etc. A mouse got in around the timing belt. Worst part is I just had the timing belt replaced 2 years ago. Yes I own a $2k mouse trap - but on the up side it worked perfectly - that mouse was flattened!

Regards,

Rob
 
I had to choose between a Ford 150 and F 250 Superduty slightly over a year ago. The 2020 (10 speed), 250 was not available in Pensacola. I had been towing with a GMC 150 (Yukon, with HD towing package and 5.7 L gas. Also had to add air bags.

I choose the 250--and haven't looked back...It tows the boat so much better, no sag in the rear. A joy to drive. The 6 speed works very well. The C Dory 25 is a heavy boat on the trailer. My first 25 I also towed with a Diesel 250.

The 150 eco boost can do it--but I believe you are pushing the envelope...It is working the engine hard. The 10 gears are there to get the best mileage possible. compare the ratios with the 6 speed and 10 speed transmissions. You are probably going to get a little better fuel mileage with the 10. speed.

Lots of factors affect tow capacity. Also look to see if an equalizing hitch is necessary for the tow capacity you want. 4 x 4, syspension, cooling, etc all are factors.
 
but I doubt it would stop that much weight trucking down a mountainside with a brake or tire failure
Click to expand...

I should add that I do have electric over hydraulic brakes on the trailer. (IN the past I've had straight electric, but you can't find boat trailers anymore with straight electric.)

I did lose a brake caliper off the 25's trailer somewhere between Rifle and Denver coming across the Rockies on i70. I didn't know it until Denver. This was the first brake in the brake line, which was ran in "series" if you will. IOW, I had no trailer brakes. The F150 did a fine job coming down the mountain. Of course I did a lot of gearing down and didn't use much braking anyway. After Denver, I still planned my stops well in advance, and didn't even think about tail gating! No doubt a bigger truck will feel more solid and handle the 25 a little easier. But the F150 can pull the load safely. Colby
 
Noooooooooo way.

I was considering an Eco-Boost several years ago. My brother in law is a mechanic, and then a buddy of mine works at a Ford dealer, and they both said the same thing. If you do any kind of pulling, you'll be buying two new turbos in 50,000 miles or less. Bought a 3/4 ton Chevy with an 8' bed, it's the best truck I've ever had. I also have a Dodge truck, would take the Chevy over it any day.
 
We just sold our horse ranch in Yucca Valley and rats eat Fords and MBZs there everyday. Here is what we do:
#1 Try not to park outside, it is the kiss of death!
#2 Get some barn cats - no names please and pick them up in threes at the entry to a local country Walmart - never let them into the house (coyotes). The dumb ones do not last long.
#3 Wire the green rat bait with the holes in the square blocks all over your rig 0 Twenty or more and use solid wire not string.
#4 Use a Squirrelinator and accept no fakes or knockoffs http://www.ruggedranch.net/traps.html[/b]
#4 Add a light under the hood, the brighter the better and leave the hood up. You can use a timer. Better yet, hand a string of lights.
#5 Do not buy a vehicle that uses soy based additives in the wire harness and insulation.
#6 Park on a pile of rat bait but only the deadly stuff we buy in Mexico works, it will kill your dogs if they eat it.
#7 Set up an ambush station, buy a quality HPA air rifle (repeater clip fed) and if you can afford it, a night vision scope. Deadly out to 50+ yards if you have a good scope. .22 is fine but .25 makes a bigger hole. Bait them in with bird food and dog food. make it comfy for you - I suggest a beer cooler in summer and some nice hot fortifying drinks in winter (just kidding - no drinking and shooting).
#8 Pick up the DOA's and get them away from the truck, the little beasts are fast learners.
I have caught up to 20 rats at a time in the trap. I power wash the trap to get the human stink off of it. I sometimes use a can or two of cat food or better yet, cheap sardines from the 99 cents store. A good night of shooting for me is up to a 100 of the little beasts.
In the day time you can shoot ground squirrels, they carry Bubonic Plague. Kill them all, leave not one to breed.
There are what I call "feral birds" that wipe out my wild baby quail and so earn a death sentence.
This is the formula, it works and we love to watch the folks from Bolliwood and other parts of LA when they move out our way and cannot start any of their vehicles within a few days. The local Ford agency has a bet on how long a new 150 sold to a city slicker will last before the rats eat the wiring.
See ya,
Bob Jarrard
[/i]
 
bobjarrard":23zoysak said:
We just sold our horse ranch in Yucca Valley and rats eat Fords and MBZs there everyday. Here is what we do:
#1 Try not to park outside, it is the kiss of death!
#2 Get some barn cats - no names please and pick them up in threes at the entry to a local country Walmart - never let them into the house (coyotes). The dumb ones do not last long.
#3 Wire the green rat bait with the holes in the square blocks all over your rig 0 Twenty or more and use solid wire not string.
#4 Use a Squirrelinator and accept no fakes or knockoffs http://www.ruggedranch.net/traps.html[/b]
#4 Add a light under the hood, the brighter the better and leave the hood up. You can use a timer. Better yet, hand a string of lights.
#5 Do not buy a vehicle that uses soy based additives in the wire harness and insulation.
#6 Park on a pile of rat bait but only the deadly stuff we buy in Mexico works, it will kill your dogs if they eat it.
#7 Set up an ambush station, buy a quality HPA air rifle (repeater clip fed) and if you can afford it, a night vision scope. Deadly out to 50+ yards if you have a good scope. .22 is fine but .25 makes a bigger hole. Bait them in with bird food and dog food. make it comfy for you - I suggest a beer cooler in summer and some nice hot fortifying drinks in winter (just kidding - no drinking and shooting).
#8 Pick up the DOA's and get them away from the truck, the little beasts are fast learners.
I have caught up to 20 rats at a time in the trap. I power wash the trap to get the human stink off of it. I sometimes use a can or two of cat food or better yet, cheap sardines from the 99 cents store. A good night of shooting for me is up to a 100 of the little beasts.
In the day time you can shoot ground squirrels, they carry Bubonic Plague. Kill them all, leave not one to breed.
There are what I call "feral birds" that wipe out my wild baby quail and so earn a death sentence.
This is the formula, it works and we love to watch the folks from Bolliwood and other parts of LA when they move out our way and cannot start any of their vehicles within a few days. The local Ford agency has a bet on how long a new 150 sold to a city slicker will last before the rats eat the wiring.
See ya,
Bob Jarrard
[/i]
Click to expand...

😂

That all sounds like what we do for deer mice, but i took the last two pack rats with a 5 iron and a maglite. Coyotes, hawks, bald eagles, owls, cougars, wolves, and a highway pretty much put the expected life of a barn cat at about a week. Looking into the squirrelinator as it seems Just medieval enough to maybe work!

Haven’t experienced that 50k turbo failure yet, but if I do I’ll tell myself “cbrats warmed ya!” And trade the expedition in on the 3/4 ton overlanding beast that haunts my dreams.
 
I don't have an ecoboost truck, but I'm sure it would pull a 25 just fine. They are torque beasts. We have an F150 5.0 long bed super crew and it has pulled many big heavy things and pulls my 22 extremely well. I can't imagine a 25 would be significantly different. There is a guy in Wasilla that tows his Bayliner 2858 with his 3.5 ecoboost and I see him on the road all the time in the summer. That's a big huge 12k boat by the way and I am sure it is at the cusp of the max rating - maybe over it. With that said, as others have noted, the 7.3 gas is a brute and F250s don't cost any more money than F150s most of the time. It is probably a better way to go than the F150 if the ramp is far. If not, probably doesn't matter one bit - many F150s are rated to tow over 9k with the 3.5 eco or the 5.0 and the 25 is not that heavy really.
 
Now a good Barn Cat if they live for six months or more get a name and if they make it to 12 months they get a bath!!! Seriously, we have 8-10 year old veterans outside. They have trees to climb, safe routes to follow, a night time Hiding Hole that is near the trucks. I have a friend who has a cat barn in his cross bed box on his flat bed. Sometimes they try to sleep on the air cleaner. You can encourage this by screwing a cat bed with a hood thingy to the air cleaner top and by feeding them on the hitch or front bumper (got a winch - they seem to prefer Warns, not much on Horrible Freight). If you let the cat sleep in the engine bay, please check where Kitty is before you hit the starter. Twice I have had the rats move behind the firewall into the dash area, one got shredded by the HVAC fan. I harden the hinge points of the hood as that is where the rubber grommets are often missing. If you call around, someone might lend you their Squirrelinator, I drown the "guests" or shoot them through the mesh with an airgun. The Havaharts are a waste of time. Sometimes the Victor wood traps will work but most often just for one dispatch.
Don't get me started on Eurasian Doves, Pigeons (rats with wings) and nested baby dove that have an elimination septic system that has to be witnessed to be believed. Rabbits that eat cactus after wiping out everything they sell in the nursery section of Walmart and large owls that vomit white stuff with fur bit and bone chunks all over my patio.
I feed to encourage road runners (one good old RR - George - would spend hours with the wife in the house talking to her and standing at the fridge door were we kept his steak chunks). I also allow even rattle snakes but much prefer the other kinds.
One thing I know for sure, if you buy the round ball bait at Home Depot, the varmints store it up for winter and eat it at Thanksgiving and Christmas for dessert. Smoke bombs in their holes? Waste of money. Also, most of them own SCUBA gear do the hose in the hole does not work.
Now for the two big guns, I mean winners every time:
#1 Propane cannon with some Oxy mixed in. Oh boy is this fun but do not park you car over a tunnel
#2 Any gas engine, the worst running ones are best (that old lawn mower that will not cut any more) - just run a tight fitting hose from the exhaust pipe into the squirrel holes, pile some dirt on every opening you can find (I add oil to the gas so I can see where the gas is escaping - a bit of water works also) and let her rip for an hour or so. Guess there are no smoke detectors in their dens.
Well, I got more tricks but some are kinda secret and not for the young or faith of heart to read. I call them Anti-Snowflake propaganda, the weak livered ones will run as soon as I bring out my trophy pictures and by the way, why not have three or four of the bigger trophy buck squirrels mounted and nailed to the barn door under the deer antlers up a bit higher (ever seen a deer run into a barn that is decorated that way.
PS: decoy predators do not work - they ate the fake bobcat.
Bob Jarrard
 
Thanks for the comments, and tip on the squirlinator. I will at least look at 3/4 ton trucks now.
 
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